How Cliometrics has Infiltrated Economics – and Helped to Improve the Discipline

Claude Diebolt and Michael Haupert ()
Additional contact information
Michael Haupert: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science, 2020, vol. 54, issue 1, 219-230

Abstract: Fenoaltea (2019) argues that cliometricians have failed as economists, historians, and economic historians. His argument is based on what he sees as a failure to appreciate the fne art of data gathering and what he perceives to be the lax attitude towards measurement. He embodies these complaints in the history of the creation of national income statistics, and the unforgiveable sin of economic historians who attempt to take those measurements backward in time. He concludes his polemic with his dream, that “cliometricians can take history and the humanities as seriously as we take economics, and lead us to the promised land.” (2019: 12) We are unsure of exactly what the “promised land” might be, but argue that any recent issue of Cliometrica, and any article in the Handbook of Cliometrics will provide ample evidence that cliometrics is alive and well, takes both history and economics very seriously, and does so with a careful and critical eye toward context (clio) and measurement (metrics). Herewith we defend the accomplishments and current robust health of cliometrics.

Keywords: Cliometrics; Economic History; Economics; History. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 B00 N00 N01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.annalsfondazioneluigieinaudi.it/images/LIV/1/2020-1-005-frezet.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: How Cliometrics has infiltrated economics - and helped to improve the discipline (2020)
Working Paper: How Cliometrics has Infiltrated Economics – and Helped to Improve the Discipline (2019)
Working Paper: How Cliometrics has Infiltrated Economics – and Helped to Improve the Discipline (2019)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fle:journl:v:54:y:2020:i:1:p:219-230

DOI: 10.26331/1107

Access Statistics for this article

Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science is currently edited by Francesco Cassata, Mario Aldo Cedrini, Roberto Marchionatti, Federica Morelli and Angela Ambrosino

More articles in Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science from Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Torino (Italy) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mario Aldo Cedrini ().